Inside the reactor core of one of North Korea's nuclear plants (Source: AP)

Many scientists are discounting that the secretive dictatorship made a true breakthrough

A
mystery is emerging on the Korean peninsula. The nation of
North Korea, which has long been suspected of developing
nuclear weapons, announced on May 12 that it had achieved
clean nuclear fusion and was ready to began rolling out
virtually free power. The claim did not receive that much
serious attention because it was simply so unbelievable.

Now
the mystery has deepened, with the South Korean government scientists
revealing that they detected abnormal
levels of radioactive xenon gas -- eight times above the
normal background level -- only two days after the fusion
announcement.

It seems highly unlikely that the fusion
reaction occurred as North Korea claims as fission typically produces
large isotopes, while fusion uses small atoms like deuterium (a
hydrogen isotope). Granted, many scientists have theorized that
fission can be tied to fusion to create
hybrid reactors and such reactors would likely
be capable of producing heavy isotopes.

Professor David Hinde,
who is the department head of nuclear physics at The Australian
National University says the release is more likely to have come from
a traditional fission device. He states, "It would have to
be man-generated unless one came up with some very unusual
alternative scenario. The lifetime of those radioactive xenon
isotopes, they're not terribly long. So it could not be anything that
came naturally, I would say. Heavy xenon isotopes could be a
signature of a fission device of some kind."

The easiest
explanation would be that North Korea conducted a nuclear weapons
test. It revealed in 2008 that it has several
nuclear weapons stockpiled. However, such a test would have
created seismic activity and South Korean officials detected no
corresponding seismic events.

Xenon is colorless, odorless,
and largely inert noble gas thats found in minute levels in the
atmosphere. The noble gases xenon and krypton are typically
used to detect nuclear activity. The levels of gas detected by
South Korea are a clear marker of nuclear activity, but do not pose a
health risk to citizens.

North Korea did conduct
nuclear weapons tests in 2006, which were detected. It received
international condemnation for these tests and UN sanctions.